Recessed lighting bulb wattage

cedar32December 27, 2009

I'm planning for our recessed lighting over the kitchen counter tops. I'm looking at recessed fixtures that would accommodate 75 watts/par 30 bulbs (they will be on dimmers).... my significant other is thinking that will be too bright. I'm curious as to what size/type bulbs others use in their recessed lights. Thanks for the suggestions.

The builder put 80W bulbs in my recessed cans. When one died I couldn't find that wattage anywhere so I used a 75W in its place. With a dimmer you don't have to worry about it being too bright, but they will generate some heat on high. I've started replacing mine with non-dimmable fluorescent equivalents to save energy.

I'd get the cans rated for the higher wattage bulbs. You can always put smaller bulbs in them, but you can't but larger wattage bulbs in cans not rated for them. I think my cans are rated for 100 watt bulbs. I ended up putting fluorescent bulbs in all of mine though and love the energy savings. Remember though.....if you replace the bulbs with fluorescents, you need to disable the dimmer. If you try to dim a non-dimmable fluorescent, you could start a fire because it causes the bulb's ballast to overheat. It's very dangerous!

We have 5" Juno Cans with the Alzak Wheat Haze trim centered over the countertop edge and spaced about 3 feet apart. We use 75 watt halogen floods on dimmers. On full bright they provide excellent task lighting with no dark spots. Dimmed they give the kitchen a nice glow. Halogen lamps also make the granite sparkle. We do have zeon under cabinet fixtures, but we use these more for "mood" lighting. They are really not needed for task lighting.

Both types do give off some heat, but we do not find it excessive. They may cost more to operate, but the look they give to the kitchen is worth the extra $'s. Hey, that granite cost a lot as well. At any rate, we do not have the lights on all the time.

Halogen floods are much brighter then the cheaper reflective type. Also, the type of bulb makes a difference too - blue is the color is a brighter too on the eyes. There is also "nature" lighting you can buy too which I like but it a premium light bulb that is suppose to be the same light wave as the "Sun". It suppose to help with depression in the winter months. It cost about 50% more then the normal halogen floods. A par 30 halogen is around $9. So if you go with "nature" light - it will be around $13-$15 a piece. They are hard to find. When I find a supplier; I use stock up on them. GE is the brand that is around this region.